New Haven

healthy

eenagers are drawn to whatever’s fastest, easiest, edgiest, biggest, newest or “best.” Hence the teenager’s penchant for extreme music, extreme hairstyles and extreme sports. As a teen’s brain develops, whole new cognitive worlds open up; pushing the envelope is, in part, a way of exploring these new realms. It’s also a teenager’s developmental prerogative to create a distinct and independent identity, which provides another incentive for exploring extremes.